An older sister’s wedding makes a girl feel lonely at first, but she is ultimately caught up in the bonds created by this big family gathering. This child’s-eye view of matrimony picks up on the excitement of a large family wedding, plus the fears a child faces of losing an older sibling and of being overwhelmed by such a grown-up occasion. The adults include Daisy, the narrator, in all the pre-wedding planning; she is part of choosing a dress, food, and rooms for the big event. Soman’s illustrations get all the details, postures, and facial expressions right, especially those of the girl as she samples foods or plays dress up in a bridal veil. These scenes are funny and personal; anyone who’s been in a wedding will understand. In the end, the wedding unites rather than divides; sitting on the sofa with her family, the child’s fears disappear. The only deterrent in this warm book is the archaic sense that the bride is being “taken away” by her man, which may reflect Daisy’s perspective, but contradicts the impression readers have of “Sister” as an independent, thinking woman, who has chosen her groom just as he has chosen her. (Picture book. 4-7)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-531-30139-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Picture-book debuts for both author and illustrator result in an affectionate glimpse of intergenerational bonds. Juno loves to get letters in the red-and-blue bordered airmail envelopes that come from his grandmother, who lives in Korea, near Seoul. He cannot read Korean, but he opens the letter anyway, and learns what he can from what his grandmother has sent: a photograph of herself and her new cat, and a dried flower from her garden. When his parents read him the letter, he realizes how much he learned from the other things his grandmother mailed to him. He creates some drawings of himself, his parents, house, and dog, and sends them along with a big leaf from his swinging tree. He gets back a package that includes drawing pencils and a small airplane—the grandmother is coming to visit. The messages that can be conveyed without words, language differences between generations, and family ties across great distances are gently and affectingly handled in this first picture book. The illustrations, done in oil-paint glazes, are beautifully lit; the characters, particularly Grandmother, with her bowl of persimmons, her leafy garden, and her grey bun that looks “like a powdered doughnut,” are charming. (Picture book. 3-7)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-670-88252-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
One of a four-book series designed to help the very young prepare for new siblings, this title presents a toddler-and-mother pair (the latter heavily pregnant) as they read about new babies, sort hand-me-downs, buy new toys, visit the obstetrician and the sonographer, speculate and wait. Throughout, the child asks questions and makes exclamations with complete enthusiasm: “How big is the baby? What does it eat? I felt it move! Is it a boy or girl?” Fuller’s jolly pictures present a biracial family that thoroughly enjoys every moment together. It’s a bit oversimplified, but no one can complain about the positive message it conveys, appropriately, to its baby and toddler audience. The other titles in the New Baby series are My New Baby (ISBN: 978-1-84643-276-7), Look at Me! (ISBN: 978-1-84643-278-1) and You and Me (ISBN: 978-1-84643-277-4). (Board book. 18 mos.-3)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-84643-275-0
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Child's Play
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
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